According to a UA press release, Billings, the Ronald Reagan Endowed Chair of Broadcasting at the University of Alabama, has co-authored a book titled "The Fantasy Sport: Games within Games," which explores how fantasy leagues are growing and changing the industry.

“It’s that desire to control your own destiny,” Billings said in the release. “Fantasy feeds the notion that you may not have the skills to be Kobe Bryant, but you have the skills to be a general manager. It’s Seinfeld’s George Costanza sitting in his office wheeling and dealing to make the trades that he thinks will make the Yankees the best team.”

Billings said fantasy league participation is having an effect on the greater sports industry -- his research indicates that higher NFL ratings correlate to fantasy league play.

“Fantasy sport tips the scales for media consumption,” Billings said in the release. “At the most fundamental level, why do people watch sports? They watch to see who wins. In fantasy sports, that’s not the case. You’re rooting for individual players and may not even care at all about which team wins. That changes the most basic equation of sports media research.”

Billings interviewed more than 1,000 fantasy players for his book, in addition to speaking to industry leaders and delving into the history of the sport.

Though sports make up the bulk of fantasy leagues -- with 35 million Americans participating each year -- leagues for everything from what movies will receive critical acclaim to which bills will pass through Congress make up the fantasy spectrum.

Billings' book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers today.